Sealing and locking closure



Feb. 4, 1947. w. R, Kom, 2,415,139

SEALING AND LOCKING CLOSURE Filed Jan. 13, 1944 Z6 223m)? %,4z g5 @WMJLM/J/M awm a Patented Feb.- 4, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,415,139 SEALING AND LOCKING CLOSURE 7 William RhKohl, Glcnview, 111. Application January is, 1944, Serial No. 518,056 4 Claims. (01. 229-62) This invention has to do with closures for bags of the type in which coffee and other loose materials are ordinarily, packaged in small unit quantities for the retail trade.

The principalpurpose of the provide an improved sealing and for a bag of the type described.

The new closure is easy to apply to a bag; seals the bag perfectly against tampering as well as contamination right up to the time of sale or use: can be opened up quickly and easily in. a very simple manner, and when once opened provides unmistakable evidence of the fact that it has been opened; can be closed and securely. locked again as many times as desired, with the tamper-proof seal remaining broken; protects the contents of the bag against the entrance of air and moisture not only when in invention is to locking closure facilitates the folding of the mouth of the bag; enables the mouth to be folded down into a substantially fiat multi-fold formation which is conducive to the stacking of one bag upon another; gives an attractive and uniformly squared appearance to the top of the bag; and, last but not least, is quite inexpensive to make and apply. While the foregoing statements are indicative in a general way of the nature of the invention, other objects and advantages will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon a full understanding of the nature of the new closure and the manner in which it is adapted to be applied locked condition;

and used.

A preferred embodiment and one modification of the invention are presented herein by way of exempliflcation, but it will of course be appre its initially sealed tamper-proof condition but also later in its replacing the rip cord length as the flaps ciated that the invention is susceptible of incorporation in other structurally modified forms coming equally within the scope of the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a face view of the blank of paper which enters into the construction of the closure;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the tin tie which is connected with the blank; Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the complete closure before being applied to the collapsed mouth of a bag;

Fig.4..is,awtransverse section through the closure. taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view which shows the closure in the act of being sealed down over the collapsed mouth of a bag;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view which shows a bag face of the strip in this position they are projects beyond the after the mouth of the same has been sealed by the closure-and folded down and locked; and

Fig. '7 is a perspective view which corresponds to Fig. 5 but shows a modification.

The new closure is best shown in Fig. 3 of the drawing. It includes a strip in of paper or other suitable material which is provided on one of its faces with a coating ll of a thermoplastic adhesive. The strip H1 is adapted to be folded longitudinally, with the coating II on the inside, to form two integrally connected flaps l2 and IS. A relatively narrow strip l4 of stifl but readily deformable metal is secured to the strip l0 along the longitudinal edge of one of the flaps, with its ends l5 projecting beyond the ends of the flaps. A rip'cord ii of fine cotton string or other suitable material is secured to the coated l0 along the intended line of fold ll between the flaps, with its ends i8 projecting beyond the ends of the flaps.

This simple but surprisingly effective closure can be made very easily by taking paper stock which is coated on one of its faces with a thermoplastic adhesive, cutting the stock into a blank I9 of'the shape shown in Fig. 1, wrapping'the metal strip I4 in an edge portion 20 of the blank, l6 against the coated face of the blank where the line of fold I1 is to be, and securing the metal strip and rip cord permanently in place, either by the application of heat and pressure or by any other suitable means.

The closure is adapted 21 having a mouth 22 which is collapsible into a substantially straight flat edge of the same I! and iii. In applying the closure the coated faces of the flaps l2 and I3 are positioned flatly against the opposite sides 23 and 24 of the flattened mouth, with the rip cord [6 lying along theedg of with the locking strip l4 spaced substantially from such edge. After the flaps have been placed subjected to enough heat and pressure to cause them to adhere permanently at all points to the sides of the mouth, thereby effectively sealing of! the edge of the mouth.

The portion of the mouth of the bag which locking strip l4 in sealed engagement with the flaps l2 and i3 can be folded back about the locking strip, using the latter as a straight edge to effect a straight and uniform fold, after which the unfilled upper portion of the bag between such fold and the top of the contents can be folded down in one or to be applied to a bag the. mouth and secured to one side of the flaps l2 and I3 'hesive, such as 12' and I3 are made estates locking strip as a gauge or guide in producing the desired multi-fold formation. After the upper portion of the bag has been folded down flatly into more or less solid abutment with the squared-off top of the material in the bag, the projecting ends Q5 of the locking strip are bent reversely into clamped engagement with the adjacent folds, thereby locking the folded down portions in a squared-oil and securely fastened but readily releasable position, as shown in Fig. 6.

In this locked down position the ends E8 of the rip cord i6 also may be tucked into the multi-fold formation, but it is immaterial whether they are or not because the seal is protected by the then overlying layers against being acon either end of the cord.

In order to open up a bag which has been sealed and locked by means of the improved closure it is merely necessary to straighten out the tucked-in ends l5 of the locking strip, unfold the top of the 7 bag, and pull the rip cord it from one end of the edge of the mouth to the-other. The loca ion of the rip cord at the edge of the mouth will result in a clean cut reinforced edge being left, which edge will permit the contents of the bag, even though they be finely pulverant material, to be poured from the bag in a smooth stream. If only 7 part of the contents are to be removed at one time the mouth of the bag can be collapsed again, folded down, and re-secured with the ends it of the locking strip. After the seal has once been In applying the closure the two fiaps l2 and i3 of the strip lll can be secured simultaneously to the opposite sides 23 and 2d of the mouth of the bag, as above described, or they can be secured separately, at different times, with one iiap being the mouth either before or after the bag has been filled, and with the other flap temporarily left projecting beyond the edge of the mouth, as shown in Fig. 5..

The adhesive used in permanently cementing to the sides of the mouth of the bag is preferably a thermoplastic one, as above stated, which cannot be steamed loose and which will adhere so inseparably to the paper or other material forming the bag as to defy bein re- 'moved by any ordinary means, even from printed -:and'highly glazed surfaces. There are many such adhesives on the market. For those applications where there would be tampering being undertaken, an ordinary ada, glue, muciiage, or cement, might no likelihood or reason for of course be substituted.

In the modification shown in Fig. 7, the flaps longer than the collapsed edge of the mouth of the bag, whereby to enable the projecting ends 25 of the the adhesive. the projecting ends 25 of the flaps can be folded back and further sealed against the intermediate portion of either of the fiapsi While the closure which forms the subject mat ter of the present invention is especially applicable to bags having mouths which are co-iiapsible t q and sheathings generally in which the structure is such that much the same conditions are resent, wherefore the term "bag as used in the fol lowing claims is to be understood as embracing within its meaning other flexible material containers not ordinarily classified in the paper trade as bags.

The new closure is preferably made up as a separate self-contained unit, but it is conceivable that so far as certain of the features of the invention are concerned it might be made up as an integralpart of the bag with which associated.

cidentally ruptured through an inadvertent pull flaps tcbe sealed together beyond the ends 26 of the month. By coating both surfaces of the flaps l2 and 83' with one of the flaps with its ends the ends of the flaps.

For example, the flap l3 may form one of the sides of the bag adjacent the edge of the mouth, in which case such side would be extended to provide a turned-down adhesively coated lip corresponding to the flap W, with the metal tie attached eitherdirectly to one of the sides of the bagiat about the location shown in Fig. 5 or to the free edge of the turned-down lip, and with the rip cord, when used, secured to the inside of the lip along the line of fold.

I claim: i

1. A combined sealing and lockingv closure for application to a bag having a mouth which is collapsible into a flattened edge, comprising a sealing strip of flexible sheet material which is coated on one face with a thermoplastic adhesive and is adapted to be folded longitudinally to form two integrally connected flaps for permanently adherent association through said coating with the opposite sides of the mouth of the bag with the line of fold arranged substantially c0- incident with the edge of the collapsed mouth,

a rip cord attached to the adherent face of the sealing strip along the line of fold with at least one of its ends projecting beyond the ends of the vflaps, and a locking strip of stiff but deformable material attached to the sealing strip adjacent the edge of one of the flaps in spacedparallel relation to the line of fold with its ends projecting beyond the ends of the flaps.

2. A combined sealing and locking closure for application to a bag having a mouth which is collapsible into a flattened edge, comprising a sealing strip provided with two flaps which are coated with an adhesive and are integrally connected together along a fold line for permanently adherent association with the opposite sides of the mouth of the bag, a rip cord secured to the sealing strip between the flaps along the line of fold with at least one of its ends projecting beyond the ends of the flaps, and a locking strip secured to the sealing strip adjacent the edge of projecting beyond 3. The combination with a bag having a mouth which is collapsible into a flattened edge and which is foldahle into a flattened position against the top of the material packed in the bag, of a sealing and locking closure for the mouth comp si g a sealing strip of flexible sheet material which is coated on one face with a thermoplastic adhesive and is foldable longitudinally to form two integrally connected flaps for permanently adherent association through said coating with the opposite sides of the mouth with the line of fold arranged substantially coincident with the edge of the mouth, a rip cord attached to the adherent face of the sealing strip along the line of fold with at least one of its ends projecting beyond the ends of the flaps, and a locking strip of stiff but deformable material attached to the 1 sealing strip adjacent the edge of one of the flaps in spaced parallel relation to the line of fold with i said locking strip the mouth.

its ends projecting beyond the end of the flaps, being adapted to have its ends bent reversely into clamped engagement with the adjacent portions of the mouth of the bag after such portions have been folded down into a substantially fiat position.

4. The combination with a bag having a mouth which is collapsible into a. flattened edge, of an adhesively coated flap which extends from one of the sides 01 the mouth of the bag and 1s adapted to be folded down against the other side of the mouth into adherent engagement with the same along a line of fold which is substantially coincident with the edge of the mouth, a rip cord which is the edge of the mouth along the line of fold, and a locking strip which is secured to one of said parts in spaced parallel relation to the edge 01 wniimm a. KOHL.

secured to one of said parts along 1 REFERENCES CKTED The following references are of record in the file'of this patent:

Number 2,138,066 1,857,010 2,200,313 2,005,665 1,217,818 2,198,119 2,321,066

'UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Matchett Nov. 29, 19 38 Avery May 3, 1932 Volksdorf May 14, 1940 Saignier June 18, 1935 Peterson Feb. 27, 191'! Krengel Apr. 23, 1940 Dense, et a1. June 8, 1943 

